Total Pageviews

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

- Mark 2:1-12

Yesterday, we read that as Jesus and the disciples had come out of the synagogue, they entered the
house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon's wife's
mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So
He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the
fever left her. And she served them. At evening, when the sun had set,
they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were
demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door.
Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out
many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew
Him. Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon
and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they
said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." But He said to them, "Let
us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for
this purpose I have come forth." And He was preaching in their
synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons. Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying
to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus, moved
with compassion, stretched out His hand and touch him, and said, "I am
willing; be cleansed." As soon as He had spoken, immediately the
leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. And He strictly warned him and
sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to
anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your
cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the
matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was
outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that
He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there
was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He
preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic
who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him
because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when
they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic
was lying. What's interesting here is the degree of detail we're given. Mark's Gospel, so far, has run along at a good clip, so to speak. We've been taken very rapidly into the heart of Jesus' ministry. He's already extraordinarily well-known and popular in Galilee. Here we get more details to fill out the picture: there's not even room in the house to greet guests, not even near the door. But Jesus uses every place that is filled with those who come to see Him and hear Him, and so He preaches. But this house still can't contain all those who come for Him. A paralytic is brought by his friends, and they are so desiring to see Jesus that the roof is uncovered so that the paralytic can be let down on his bed into the midst of the house. We can imagine that this house is possibly thatched with some sort of material that is easily removed and put back, or it's possible it's a tiled roof from which tiles can be removed and broken up. But the details are teaching us something, besides leading us to wonder about how the house is constructed! They teach us about how briskly so many come to faith in Jesus, and how strongly they want to be in His presence, to hear what He teaches and be healed by Him. It's all an expression of desire and effort.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." The point here is faith. All that effort, all that desire -- it's all about the faith, or rather the trust, that is put in Jesus. And it is Jesus who responds so strongly to that faith.

And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their
hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive
sins but God alone?" But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His
spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why
do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to
say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise,
take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man
has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say
to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Immediately he
arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so
that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything
like this!" My study bible encourages us to note that one purpose of Christ's coming into the world is to forgive sins, to free humanity from its bondage. It says, "Forgiving sins is a greater power than physical healing, for, as the scribes correctly note, God alone can forgiven sins. Thus the easier task is to grant physical healing. Though Christ is fully God and holds the authority to forgive, He condescends to those gathered and heals this man in order to draw people to God, whom they glorified."

Mark's Gospel starts its second chapter with an important change. Up until now we've gone through the early events of Jesus' ministry with a strong pace, but suddenly everything "slows down" in today's reading to give us rich detail. The house is so full no one can be greeted at the door. A paralytic is brought by his friends, and all so desire to see Jesus that the full house can't stop them. The roof is taken apart in order to lower the man down in his bed. All of this detail is told to give us an impression, an understanding, of just how much people desire to see Jesus. It teaches us why Jesus is impressed by their faith. And that's a root core of this story, it is a story about faith and how faith works to bring us closer to God. The text tells us that it's not just the faith of the paralytic that Jesus sees, but the faith of his friends as well. Faith is a word, we recall, that is akin to trust in the original Greek. They've put their trust in Christ. Often it's commented regarding this passage that it teaches us about prayer, how we can act as intercessors or intermediaries for others by praying for them, and this is the role of those who bring this paralytic man closer to Christ. The text teaches us also that we may act as a community, as a body, to help one another. It seems to say that our combined faith does something for us more powerfully than we can do for ourselves. This becomes a great purpose in worship as well, and at prayer in a group. We can "carry" one another. Still other commentaries from Tradition teach us that paralysis is a kind of metaphor for sin. When we're stuck in sin, a false way of thinking or acting, we're paralyzed: we don't move forward. We don't get on with life, with healing. And the text teaches us also that friends can help us with that, too. The prayer of others is effective in helping us get "unstuck" from the place we're in, where we need to change our minds, see a better way, and come to the Healer for our own ailments. All of this is there in this story with all its details, so that we can understand how this applies in our own lives as well. Do you know someone who needs prayers? Do you gather in worship to strengthen your own faith and prayer? Let us consider all the ways in which God may be calling us to come to greater faith, and in which we may bring others to God. The prayers of the saints, in the whole communion of the faithful, also act as intercessors, intermediaries, and we call upon them to pray for us as well. This is the mystical reality of faith, of the Kingdom. We are connected in this communion. The life of the Church is the blood of faith, that circulates through and within each of us and for the other. Let us not forget that when we strengthen our own faith in prayer, we may also be filling a well, a kind of great reservoir, for all others who need it as well. We can build strength for others who need it when they, too, are paralyzed.

All work that appears on this blog is original and under copyright protection of the author, including photos, texts and any other form of expression, unless otherwise indicated. Please do not reproduce in any form without attribution and link.